MoD software blunder keeps Chinook helicopters grounded

Eight Chinook helicopters have not been able to be used since they were bought
in 2001 because the Ministry of Defence (MoD) tried to save money by
designing its own software for them.

9:06AM BST 25 Aug 2009

The MoD agreed to buy the Chinook Mk3s in 1995 for £259million but they have been kept in storage since they were delivered in 2001.

It has always said the helicopters have not been able to be passed as fit for use because officials negotiating the deal to buy them did not ask for the access code for the software used to fly them and Boeing refused to hand the code over once the mistake was noticed.

But The Times reports the MoD never asked for the code because, under pressure from the Treasury, it told Boeing it planned to install its own software, thinking it could do so more cheaply.

However, the software did not work and the Chinooks have now been converted into transport aircraft rather than the high-tech models they were intended to be.

The Times quoted a defence insider who said: ''The MoD found it couldn't design the software for the Mk3s, as Boeing had warned.''

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An MoD spokesman said its version of events, which was included in a report by the National Audit Office (NAO), was correct.

''The NAO report concluded that the MoD failed to specify access to the software code in the original contract," he said. ''Once it was discovered that this code was required to test the software needed to gain a UK air worthiness certificate, Boeing withheld the MoD's access to the code to protect their intellectual property rights.

''To rectify this situation, eight Chinook Mk3 helicopters have been reverted to a Mk2 standard to enable their use on operations. The first of these eight Chinooks will be received at RAF Odiham before the end of this year with final deliveries before the end of 2010.''

The use of helicopters by British forces and the number of aircraft available to them has been a cause of controversy already this year.

A political row over the provision of helicopters to commanders in Afghanistan erupted during a bloody July which saw a mounting death toll as troops engaged in Operation Panther's Claw.

The ability to transport troops by air reduces the risk of attack from improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have claimed dozens of lives.

Earlier this month, the MoD insisted six Merlin helicopters would be ''fit for operational use'' despite reports they would not be able to fly combat missions due to a lack of armour plating.